Cardinals stop Rollins, Phillies
Jimmy Rollins watched the final out with his bat in his hands, turned, and walked down the steps of the dugout.
He was more disappointed over Philadelphia's third straight loss than the end of his 38-game hitting streak.
Rollins went 0 for 4, snapping a hitting streak that stretched over two seasons, and the Phillies lost, 4-2, to the St. Louis Cardinals yesterday in Philadelphia.
''I said I'd trade a hit for a win," Rollins said. ''Unfortunately it didn't happen."
After finishing with a 36-game hitting streak last year, Rollins kept up his pursuit of Joe DiMaggio's major league record 56-game streak with hits in his first two games this season.
But he was hitless in three tries against Jason Marquis -- he's 3 for 25 against him -- and one at-bat against Josh Hancock. Rollins flied out to right field (first inning), left field (fifth), and center field (seventh), and was retired trying to bunt for a single in the third.
Rollins was the fifth batter due up in the ninth, but Jason Isringhausen retired the side in order, getting Mike Lieberthal to ground out to third base for the final out.
Rollins's season-ending 36-game hitting streak was the ninth-longest over one season in big league history, and the longest in the majors since 1987, when Paul Molitor hit safely in 39 consecutive games. The 38-game streak is the eighth-longest overall.
Giants 6, Braves 4 -- Pedro Feliz hit a bases-clearing double off the wall in left-center in a six-run third, and Ray Durham added a two-run single in the inning to lift San Francisco in its home opener.
Barry Bonds, third on the home run list with 708 and seven from passing Babe Ruth, saw all of eight pitches to hit, and 14 total. He didn't get the ball out of the infield.
Bonds drew his first two intentional walks of the season, struck out, and grounded weakly to first.
Diamondbacks 12, Rockies 5 -- Miguel Batista matched a career high with 11 strikeouts in seven strong innings to win his first start in almost two seasons, leading visiting Arizona.
Reds 6, Pirates 5 -- Adam Dunn hit a 479-foot homer that bounced out of the ballpark, and followed with a disputed tiebreaking single in the eighth inning, leading host Cincinnati. The Pirates arrived in town at 1:40 a.m. after being swept in Milwaukee, and didn't fare well on limited sleep. Pittsburgh fell to 0-4 for the first time since 1994 and only the sixth time in franchise history.
Tigers 10, Rangers 6 -- Texas knuckleballer R.A. Dickey gave up six home runs to visiting Detroit, tying the post-1900 major-league record in a loss to the Tigers. Five of the homers were solo shots. The only major-league pitcher to give up more homers was Charlie Sweeney of the St. Louis Maroons, who surrendered seven at the Detroit Wolverines in an American Association game June 12, 1886.
Mariners 6, Athletics 2 -- Gil Meche gave Seattle another strong start, and Carl Everett hit his first homer with the club as the host Mariners won their third straight.
Devil Rays 2, Orioles 0 -- Mark Hendrickson pitched a three-hitter, and visiting Tampa Bay won its first game for rookie manager Joe Maddon. The 6-foot-9-inch lefthander walked one and struck out five.
Blue Jays 6, Twins 3 -- Gustavo Chacin made a strong first start, Jason Phillips hit a tiebreaking double, and B.J. Ryan got his second save to carry host Toronto.
In late games Wednesday:
Milton Bradley had three RBIs and scored the go-ahead run on Robinson Cano's eighth-inning error, leading Oakland from a four-run deficit to a 9-4 victory over the visiting Yankees . . Ryan Langerhans hit a two-out ground-rule double in the eighth to drive in the go-ahead run, and visiting Atlanta beat the Dodgers, 9-8 . . . Bonds reached base three times without getting a hit and scored once as the Giants beat the host Padres, 3-1.
